Time After Time
by MyOriginalIntent
Summary: A bit of a PWP seventh year forward for Harry and Draco- angst, fluff, cotton candy sweetness. SLASH. R for suicide.


**Title:** Time After Time  
**Author:** MOI  
**Disclaimer:** I don't think JK Rowling is of the opinion that Harry and Draco have... a thing for each other. I do believe that. So I can't own these characters, can I?   
**Author's Notes:** Heard this song on the radio, decided to write a story for it. The story resembles the song only slightly. Very slightly. This can stand alone without the song. But, regardless, this does have a song embedded in it. The characters do not sing, however.   
**Warnings:** Slash ahead. Nothing graphic, nothing but high PG. But I don't get warned about het fics, so I don't think that constitutes something needing a warning. Slight angst and slight suicide-theme ahead.   
**Spoilers:** If you haven't read all four of the Harry Potter books, you need to get your sorry self out of your cave now. But I'm not spoiling anything, unless you don't know who Harry Potter is...   
**Rating:** R. Very low R.   
**Archive:** Yes, please. Tell me first, though, so I can boast to my friends... LOL. Telling me isn't necessary, as long as it stays under my name and no parts are changed.   
**Time After Time**   
Slash ahead. If you object to the ten percent of the total population, you need to hit the back button. Yes, approximately ten percent of all of us are gay/lesbian/bi. Have a problem with that?   
  
  
_Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,   
And think of you   
Caught up in circles confusion--   
Is nothing new   
Flashback--warm nights-- Almost left behind   
Suitcases of memories,   
Time after--_   
  
The boy- not a boy any longer, a young man- gazed down at the head resting peacefully on his lap. The man smiled softly, an statement rarely seen on his face by anyone. A night breeze ruffled his blonde hair and he reached down, drawing his fingers through the messy black hair on his lap.   
  
"Harry," he whispered softly, bending down to speak into the other young man's ear "We've got to go back inside the castle." Harry did not wake. Turning over restlessly in Draco's lap, Draco could see dried tear streaks on Harry's face. Draco sighed softly.   
  
"all right, Harry-love, keep on sleeping." Draco suddenly scowled. "While I stay awake and guard your lazy arse from critters of the night! Honestly, I don't know why I put up with you..." his face softened and he removed the sleeping Harry's glasses. The beautiful emerald eyes were shielded from view by Harry's eyelids.   
  
"Or maybe I do... I love you, you know? Madly, desperately, heart-wrenchingly. You have no idea what a scare you gave me, coming out here to see you with a knife about to slit your wrists... I didn't love you then. But I liked you- I wasn't prepared to lose you." Draco paused again. "We've come a long way since then, haven't we Harry?" He bent slightly to place a soft kiss on the Boy-Who-Lived's ear. A long way..."Draco stared off into space, remembering what had them out here tonight.   
  
_ "Weasley! Have you seen Harry?" The tall red head looked in annoyance at the shorter Draco in front of him.   
  
"He's your boyfriend. No, I haven't seen him since dinner. And Draco- since you're shagging my best friend, don't you think you could call me Ron?" Draco rolled his eyes.   
  
"Not on your life, Weasley. Any idea where he might be?" Ron shook his head, then got a far-off look in his eyes. "No idea, but I think I know how to find out..." He led Draco through the castle to a picture of a fat lady dressed in pink.   
  
"I don't want to know if Harry's given you the password, but you're not hearing it from me. Cover your ears." Draco rolled his eyes again, and dutifully covered his ears, straining to hear the password. Harry hadn't given it to him, either. The portrait swung open and Ron tugged Draco inside.   
  
"Please try not to insult my housemates too much with your presence, would you?" Ron hissed.   
  
"I always try to oblige, Weasley."   
  
Then they were racing up the stairs to the boys' dormitories- Draco knew where _those_ were. Ron opened one of the wooden doors and dug through Harry's trunk, looking for something. Finally he emerged, with a pair of boxers hanging off his ear.   
  
"Found it! He exclaimed triumphantly. To Draco it looked like a piece of old parchment.   
  
"Found what, Weasley?" Draco snapped. He was getting edgy- he just had this feeling it was important to find Harry. "Come here and see!" Ron exclaimed. Then he pressed his wand against the parchment and recited a phrase quickly. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Ron intoned. Draco peered over Ron's shoulder to get a better look.   
  
"Presenting- the Marauder's Map!" Ron said proudly. It took all of three seconds to Draco to figure out what the thing was. He scanned it for the name 'Harry Potter' and finally found it, flickering in and out by the Whomping Willow.   
  
"Thanks, Weasley!" he said quickly and raced out of Gryffindor territory. Whatever the flickering meant, Draco guessed it couldn't be good.   
  
He couldn't have made a bigger understatement if he tried.   
  
The sight that met Draco's horrorstruck eyes was far too like a sight he had seen a scant seven months before. Harry lay sprawled on the ground, bleeding profusely from two slit wrists. A plain dagger lay next to him, along with a note. Draco thanked whatever powers that were that he had taken an optional course in Magical Healing.   
  
"Dammit, Harry! Not again! Damn you- Kailorus!" he exclaimed, pointing his wand at Harry. To Draco's great relief the spell worked, closing the wounds until they were thin, pale scars. Draco ran frantically through everything he'd been taught in the class for a way to replace all the blood Harry'd lost. He could only think of one, a way to speed up the production of blood cells within the body.   
  
"_Hemomundarse!_" he exclaimed, then "_ennervate!_" causing the unconscious boy to be forcefully woken. As Harry blinked back into consciousness, Draco skimmed the note.   
  
~ Dear Everyone Who Thinks They Have A Reason To Care,   
  
I, Harry Potter, have just purposefully ended my own life. I feel life is not worth living and therefore far be it from me to ignore the dictates of Fate. Tell Professor Trelawney that she got her third prediction right today, even though her prediction of my death was purely routine. I'm sure whoever you are is wondering why I decided to leave the cold, cruel world.   
  
Well, here's why: I'm in love. At least I was in love. Absolutely, irrevocably in love. No, you fool, I'm not cheating on Draco or anything. I'm in love with Draco. I love him more than life itself. But he- well, he doesn't love me at all. Considers me his 'fuck buddy.' Told me so himself. And yes, I have told him I love him. And whenever I do that, he just freezes up and doesn't reply. So he obviously doesn't return my feelings. So I saw two choices: live my life miserably, or take it. I think it's obvious I chose the latter option.   
  
Love,   
Harry   
  
PS: Tell Draco I love him and that if he's upset, Seamus has been itching to get into his pants for ages. ~   
  
When Draco had finished reading this he grabbed Harry roughly in his arms and shook him. The green eyes opened to regard him with dismay.   
  
"You found me."   
  
"Yes, I did. You idiot! How could you do this to yourself- again! I'm not worth your life, you fucking idiot!" The green eyes filled with tears and Draco hugged Harry very tightly to him.   
  
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear?" he muttered softly. Harry's face-hardened.   
  
"Why do you care?" The reply was sullen.   
  
"Why do I care? Why do I care?! I love you, Harry James Potter, and don't you ever forget it!" "But- you never said-" Draco kissed Harry on the mouth, tenderly. "I was scared. I'm no Gryffindor, Harry- I was scared. I was planning on telling you on Graduation Day, but..." Draco trailed off. The two sat in silence for a while, before Draco reached out tentatively to stroke Harry's cheek. Harry slowly fell asleep, head falling onto Draco's lap. _  
  
Draco came out of his thoughts with a sigh. "I'm getting you a shrink first thing I do tomorrow morning." He told the sleeping boy. One eye opened and stared up at him in indignation.   
  
"Draco Lucius Malfoy! You will do nothing of the sort!"   
  
"Yes I will. You ready to go back inside now?" Harry nodded and together they headed together into the castle, arms around each other's shoulders companionably.   
  
"I don't know what I'd do if you died, Harry. Sleep well." With that they parted, going to their separate house common rooms.   
  
_Sometimes you picture me-- I'm walking too far ahead   
You're calling me, I can't hear   
What you've said--   
Then you say--go slow--   
I fall behind--   
The second hand unwinds_   
  
Some time later that night Draco was shaken awake to see Harry standing over him, looking down through those new gold-coloured glasses of his. Draco wished Harry would just get his eyes fixed magically- he hated whatever glasses his boyfriend wore.   
  
"Shit, Harry! Who gave you the password?" Draco swore, sitting up and pulling his sheets around him. Modesty dies hard, especially when being woken rudely in the middle of the night.   
  
"No one. Blaise let me in. I think he had a late-night snog session with a girlfriend of his- he was coming back when I ran into him in the halls. He let me in." Draco sighed in relief.   
  
"Thank god." Harry winked knowingly.   
  
"So anyways, what made you disturb my beauty sleep?" Draco asked finally. Harry sat down on Draco's bed and leaned back on Draco's shoulder. Draco supported the weight grudgingly.   
  
"Bad dream." Harry said softly. Draco inched closer to Harry, pulling the three-inches-shorter boy into his arms.   
  
"What about?" Harry paused. "You."   
  
Draco sighed inwardly. "The one I become a Death Eater in?" Draco asked. They both glanced involuntarily at the faded remainder of Draco's Mark.   
  
"No."   
  
"What about, then?" Harry shifted awkwardly on the four poster.   
  
"I know this sounds stupid, but- you were- leaving me behind. Not breaking up with me, just... forgetting about me. Leaving me behind." Harry repeated. Draco heaved the smaller boy's legs onto the bed and removed Harry's shoes, sliding them both under the heavy blanket. It was spring, but Draco insisted upon heavy blankets.   
  
"I promise you, Harry, I will never, ever forget you. I will never leave you behind. "   
  
"But what if you don't know you're doing it?" Harry asked softly. Draco hugged Harry, teary-eyed.   
  
"Never, never, never. Just tell me if I ever start doing that and I'll stop immediately, I swear. Scout's Honour." Harry laughed suddenly at the Muggle phrase. Draco slowly fell back to sleep and Harry tucked the covers around them both, settling down to sleep with Draco in his arms.   
  
_If you're lost you can look-- and you will find me   
Time after time   
If you fall I will catch you-- I'll be waiting   
Time after time _  
  
The seventh year of Hogwarts students was abuzz with excitement. Not a single student in that year had been able to sleep past six thirty that morning, and it was rumoured Lavender Brown had woken around four- Lavender being one of the most notorious 'I'm not a morning person' people- to make sure she looked 'just right.' Harry himself had gotten up at six to the sight Ron's cheery face above him with a just emptied glass of ice water on his hand.   
  
The excitement was almost palpable. It was Graduation Day. The seventh year students had planned a very special graduation ceremony indeed. On the surface, it was completely ordinary, but the planning had been but into 'master designer extraordinare' Padma Patil of Ravenclaw's hands. She had even set a dress code. Draco pondered this dress code as he carefully tugged his silk shirt over his head. It was green, to match the Slytherin House colours. He also wore black pants with silver lining. It was the dress code for all Slytherin males. Draco smirked. Well... mostly.   
  
He added a short, sleeveless vest over the shirt with a small pocket on the side. In this pocket Draco stuffed two firecrackers. Checking himself in the mirror, his reflection nodded in approval. He sat back down on his bed to wait for his dorm mates to finish dressing, nervously reviewing his speech in his head. Finally, the long hand on the grandfather clock in the corner of the dorm reached Time to Graduate. A shriek sounding like Pansy echoed down the hall. She had noticed, too. Blaise gave a loud whoop.   
  
"Yes! Yes!" Greg was pounding the air with his fist.   
  
"Hip hip hooray!"   
  
Professor Snape walked casually into the dorm.   
  
"Hurry up or you'll be late for your own graduations." He warned. As one, Draco, Greg, Vincent and Blaise rushed out of the room, brushing past a startled Severus Snape, joining with the Slytherin girls. They raced together along the corridors, coming to a halt behind the other seventh year students who had already arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall. McGonagall was trying to get them lined up correctly.   
  
"Alphabetically by last name!" she cried, glaring at the milling body.   
  
"Hurry up! You've been writing essays for me for seven years- you know the alphabet by heart! Alphabetically, Finnegan! Your last name does not begin with a 'T!'" Draco shot a glance at Harry, who smiled. Draco blew him a raspberry. The seventh years were finally quiet, waiting for a signal from Professor Flitwick. They could hear Dumbledore inside, giving a speech to their parents. The first student in line, Hannah Abbott, looked white with fright. Finally Flitwick waved his wand at them and they filed quietly in.   
  
The eyes of all the parents hit them like a wave. On the raised platform at the front of the Great Hall were a two lines of carved stools going diagonally across it. The podium Dumbledore stood at faced both them and the parents Each of them had been told by Padma to find a 'unique, tasteful, easily recognizable wooden stool' to sit on while waiting for their name to be called. Draco headed for his and sank gracefully down into it. He scanned the crowd, looking for his mother. "I am pleased to present to you-" Dumbledore was saying, "the Hogwarts Class of Ninety-eight!" Padma grasped the hands of the two people on either side of her and, following her unspoken command, they all clasped hands and inclined their heads. The audience clapped.   
  
"And, without further ado, the diplomas!" This resulted in more clapping and Dumbledore raised his hands to quiet them Draco tuned this part out, noting how each student had remembered to wear the dress code Padma had ordained, with the colours of their houses and the exact style demanded, too. So far, success. Blaise was given his diploma at last, concluding that part of the ceremony.   
  
Now Draco rose and stepped to the podium, which Dumbledore had vacated. He had been named valedictorian, for some odd reason. His mother smiled up at him from the back of the Hall and Draco swallowed nervously. Then he cleared his throat and turned to face his classmates, so the audience could only see his profile.   
  
"Well, people, we're all alive. Can any of you believe it- we've have survived seven years of each other." Draco began. He was interrupted by applause from the seated students.   
  
"Hogwarts Class of 1998, we have survived!" Draco paused for effect. "Not only have we survived, we have grown up together. When we leave this room today, we will no longer be students. But we will still be friends. If I has told you, in our first year, that we would be once of the closest-knit groups Hogwarts has ever seen, would you have believed me?" Draco could see Ron shaking his head.   
  
"Of course not. But we all have developed and matured and we can see each other with an adult viewpoint now. No longer am I the bully of the school- I've learned from all of you wonderful people-" he glanced at Harry "as have all of you learned from each other. I know that if Pansy needs a flat to schlep in for a few days, every single one of us will have the space. Wouldn't have had that space in fourth year, would we have?" Draco sobered.   
  
"We have survived many things at Hogwarts together- death, birth, hatred, love- all the stresses and strains of life. So- are we ready? To leave our school, our home away from home, finally? Yes! We are! And we will be more empowered in the days to come by the friends we have made today and yesterday and all the mindless days in these corridors before then." His classmates cheered this.   
  
_After my picture fades and darkness has   
Turned to grey   
Watching through windows--you're wondering   
If I'm okay   
Secrets stolen from deep inside   
The drum beats out of time--   
  
_"And after all of you have forgotten this speech and forgotten my face, I want you to remember this place and your history. Agreed?" The parents sensed he had completed his speech. They began to clap, steadily getting louder. Draco raised his hands one last time to quiet them.   
  
"Remember- Hogwarts forever!" With that, he took his firecrackers from his pocket and threw them into the air, the toss causing them to burst open. Around him the others had done the same. In the background Justin and Terry were playing a familiar tune. As the confetti began to drop to the ground, they all joined together to sing the school song one last time. They were all crying. Draco realised he too had tears in his eyes.   
  
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Woggy Hogwarts   
Teach us something please   
Whether we be old and bald   
Or young we scabby knees..."   
  
Draco beckoned Harry towards him and Harry came hesitantly forwards. Grasping Harry by the shoulders, Draco pulled him into a huge, sloppy kiss. All around them other couples were doing the same.   
  
"I love you, Draco."   
  
"I love you too, Harry. More than you'll ever know."   
  
"Same here. Forever and a day."   
  
"Forever and a day?"   
  
"Forever and a day. I'll never stop loving you, Draco."   
  
"And you'll be in my heart for all eternity, Harry."   
  
_If you're lost, you can look-- and you will find me   
Time after time   
If you fall, I will catch you--I'll be waiting   
Time after time   
  
You said go slow-- I fall behind   
The second hand unwinds_   
  
An old man with greying black hair looked out his window into the snow. A car pulled into the driveway and another man got out. He had snowy white hair and twinkling grey eyes. The grey-haired one got up slowly and walked towards the door, pulling his love inside.   
  
"We do not need eggs so bad you have to go out in that weather, Draco!" Harry said sternly, removing Draco's jacket.   
  
"Yes we do!" Draco insisted. Harry groaned.   
  
"Too many people die in this weather, love-what would I do if I lost you, hmm?" Draco's eyes shadowed.   
  
"I always hope to go first, Harry. Always."   
  
"Together, then?"   
  
"Yes. Do you want the eggs scrambled or fried?"   
  
_If you're lost, you can look--and you will find me-   
Time after time   
If you fall, I will catch you--I'll be waiting   
Time after time _  
  
In a cemetery surrounded by a low stone fence, two graves lie side by side in freshly turned earth. Enclosed by a circle of rosebushes. They read:   
  
_

Harry James Potter~~~~~~~~~~~~Draco Lucius Malfoy   
1980-2060 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1980 - 2060   
Forever and a day, my love.~~~~~~~~~~ For all eternity, Harry 

_   
  
A stone angel sits atop each headstone, looking at each other. Both are male, one with a snake curled in its palm, the other leaning against a large lion. A pair of lilies lie between them, spelled to remain fresh. There is no mention of who these people were- that must be found in a history book. No mention that Voldemort's defeater and a famous novelist and spy lie here in peace.   
  
A bird chirps and any ghosts in the cemetery must smile. The stone angels are singing together.   
  
_Time after time   
Time after time   
Time after time   
Time after time _  
  
**Liked it? Hated it? Indifferent? Tell me anyway! Review, please? **


End file.
